A blog dedicated to coverage of rock news, reviews of CD's/DVD's, live gigs and interviews with musicians who have made rock music great!
Coverage of hard rock, classic rock, AOR and popular melodic rock music across the genre.
This blog is the creation of Alun Williams, a Brit now living in Michigan whose previous credits include writing for the following sites:
www.classicrock.about.com
www.classicrockrevisited.com
and www.rocknrolluniverse.com (Now gone)
I hope you enjoy your visit here!

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

News Update for Thursday 10th March, 2011

Foreigner's to release 3 disc special set prior to tour with Journey

Foreigner will release a new 3-disc package prior to the tour that will include new digital studio recordings of the greatest hits, featuring the current line-up of the band – Mick Jones, lead guitar, Kelly Hansen, lead vocals, percussion, Jeff Pilson, bass guitar, Tom Gimbel, guitar, saxophone, flute, Michael Bluestein, keyboards and Mark Schulman, drums – some new songs, a unique live CD and a video of a very special live performance that will be featured in a Public Television national broadcast in the summer.

More details of these exciting events will follow.

No further details on those new songs at this time, but I'm guessing the the live stuff will be from the PBS shows the band are doing that I posted here yesterday, should be good though, I thought the band were strong last summer and I'm sure this tour will just extend that to more of Foreigner long time fans, that have questioned Lou Gramm being replaced. Kelly Hansen nails Lou's voice very well if you ask me.

Foreigner’s Mick Jones added this simple statement to sum it up, “This will be one of the main events of the summer. Bands who represent the magic era in Classic Rock together for the first time in ten years. Get ready to rock!”

Foreigner are already out on the road, before they hook up withJourney and Night Ranger in the summer, check out their live dates right here:

The unusual band name refers to an apparently particularly love-hungry lady named MOLLY HATCHET, who lived in the 17th century and had her lovers decapitated after enjoying their favours. In 1978, the band signed their first recording deal and sold almost a million copies of their self-titled debut release. MOLLY HATCHET went on tour with Aerosmith and Bob Seger that same year, and their second album release Flirtin' With Disaster (1979) followed twelve months later. Their third album Beatin' The Odds (1981) was a commercial success, selling over two million copies and entering the Billboard charts at no. 25. The group's unmistakable trade mark is the warrior who appears on their album sleeves and was designed by the American fantasy artist, Frank Frazetta.

Their fourth offering, Take No Prisoners (1981), made it directly into the Billboard charts. Two years later,MOLLY HATCHET presented their exceptional No Guts ... No Glory (including the anthem 'Fall Of The Peacemakers'). Their 1984 The Deed Is Done was the first release to meet with mixed reactions. While some attested the album with HATCHET'S typical blues rock and boogie feel, others criticized its all-too-polished sound. However, MOLLY HATCHET managed to reunite their fan base again with their live release Double Trouble Live (1985), recorded in Dallas and Jacksonville.

Their eighth album, Lightning Strikes Twice, saw the light of day four years later, followed by an almost seven year sabbatical, which came to an end with Devil's Canyon in 1996. "After all those years, it was still a great feeling to pick up a guitar, connect it to an amp and start playing", Ingram rejoiced at the successful comeback. "Devil's Canyon put us back on the rock music map." Two years and countless gigs later, MOLLY HATCHET presented their eleventh album Silent Reign of Heroes, followed by an 18-month world tour and the dynamic Kingdom Of XII. "Silent Reign of Heroes was not really a sinister album, but it did deal with the dark side of the band. Kingdom Of XII was pure fun. It's an album for beer drinkers, for people who enjoy hoisting the rebel flag again,"

Ingram compares the two studio recordings.

A few weeks after the release, MOLLY HATCHET were back on stage in Germany to complete the recordings for their live release, Locked And Loaded in 2003. Their 2005 album, Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge, was released in memory of Bobby Ingram's late wife Stephanie, and today, five years later, Justice presents MOLLY HATCHET as a band which fills the spirit of the Southern community with life. Now Greatest Hits II marks the 35th anniversary of this legendary rock band the south has risen again!

WHITESNAKE’S FORTHCOMING ALBUM “FOREVERMORE” DUE OUT IN MULTIPLE CONFIGURATIONS MARCH 25th; MORE TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED

FIRST SINGLE “LOVE WILL SET YOU FREE” HEATS UP AT RADIO; TRACK/VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NOW

Whitesnake’s brand new album FOREVERMORE, due out via Frontiers Records on March 25th in Europe and March 29th in North America, is set for release in four different configurations. FOREVERMORE will be available as:

- a single CD

- a CD+DVD combo: the DVD features the “Love Will Set You Free” video, the making of “Love Will Set You Free” video, as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary on the recording of FOREVERMORE; the CD includes three bonus tracks: “Love Will Set You Free” (alt mix), “My Evil Ways” (alt mix with drum solo) and “Forevermore” (acoustic version)

- a 2LP gatefold sleeve

- a special edition box set which includes the CD, DVD, 2LP, as well as a cover litho, a poster and a logo sticker.

The digital album is available for pre-order now via http://www.whitesnake.com/ and includes an instant track download of “Love Will Set You Free.” Pre-order of the album is also available at all digital stores now, with Amazon digital stores offering “My Evil Ways” (alt Mix with Drum Solo) as a bonus track; while the iTunes LP edition features the “Love Will Set You Free” (alt mix) and “Forevermore” (acoustic version) as bonus tracks.

FOREVERMORE will be will be specially released on a “Snake Pack” edition in the United Kingdom only. This very special release – arranged in conjunction with Future Publishing and Classic Rock magazine - will come with a collectors edition 132 pages deluxe magazine + A1 poster & metal pin badge and shall feature an exclusive cover art and 2 bonus live tracks “Slide It In” and “Cheap An’ Nasty” which will serve as an appetizer for the forthcoming “Live @ Donington 1990” CD and DVD to be released in the summer 2011.

The first single from FOREVERMORE, “Love Will Set You Free,” has been heating up at radio with serious spins at stations such as Planet Rock, Star FM, ARFM and Total Rock in the UK, Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Italy), Radio Die Neue 107,7 (Germany), Radio 88,6 Vienna (Austria), Radio DRS3 (Switzerland), RNE/Radio 3 (Spain) and more.

David Coverdale will be on the cover of April editions of several magazines in Europe and Japan and This Is Rock (Spain) has already hit the newsstands.

The corresponding video, which can be seen on VEVO, has received upwards of 230,000 views in its first two weeks. Directed by Devin DeHaven/Fortress Entertainment (Papa Roach, Method Man, Extreme), the video was shot in Lake Tahoe, NV. “Love Will Set You Free” is now available for purchase at all digital service providers – click here to purchase the single on and click here to purchase the video on iTunes.

In other Whitesnake news, more US and European tour dates have been announced including headlining the M3 Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD on Saturday, May 14th, an appearance at the Rocklahoma Festival in Pryor, OK on Friday, May 27th, and an appearance at the Kazlicesme Festival in Istanbul, Turkey on July 11, together with Bon Jovi and Judas Priest.

Please see below for the itinerary with more tour dates to be announced shortly.

FOREVERMORE finds founder/singer/songwriter David Coverdale and company returning to their no-holds-barred, bluesiest, sexiest rock n’ roll roots. This will be Whitesnake’s 11th album and the first release via Frontiers Records. FOREVERMORE was recorded, produced and mixed by Los Bros Brutalos (Coverdale, Doug Aldrich and Michael McIntyre). Whitesnake is David Coverdale (vocals),Doug Aldrich (guitars), Reb Beach (guitars), Michael Devin (bass) and Briian Tichy (drums).

Formed in 1977, and steered by the legendary David Coverdale, Whitesnake carry a rightful reputation as one of the world’s leading rock n’ roll bands. Coverdale’s blues roots, combined with a feral sense of rockin’ and rollin’, have consistently shaped the ‘Snake’s sound along with Coverdale’s love and appreciation of impeccable musicianship. Whitesnake’s ascent to the very top of the rock n’ roll heap was confirmed with 1987’s self-titled mega-platinum album, which saw two massive Top 10 hits, two #1 singles with “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love” and a virtual 24-hour domination of MTV around the world.